British army faces further inquiries into alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners

The Baha Mousa report is not the only one to look into the question of the “systemic” abuse of Iraqi prisoners. A second inquiry is to open later this year, examining disputed allegations that up to 20 men were tortured and murdered in British custody after a gun battle in southern Iraq in 2004.

That inquiry became inevitable after the high court severely criticised the Royal Military Police’s investigation into the affair and said that courts should be wary of evidence given by the RMP’s second in command.

The court of appeal is currently considering whether to order a third inquiry, into the military’s entire detention and interrogation policy, after hearing arguments on behalf of more than 150 men who allege they were systematically tortured by the British army in south-east Iraq between 2003 and 2008.

The complaints include 59 allegations of detainees being hooded, 11 of electric shocks, 122 of sound deprivation through the use of ear muffs, 52 of sleep deprivation, 131 of sight deprivation using blackened goggles, 39 of enforced nakedness and 18 of being kept awake by pornographic DVDs played on laptops.